Northwestern Mutual plans major downtown expansion

1,700 new jobs possible

Milwaukee is about to add to its skyline with a 30 to 35-story skyscraper.

Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance has big plans to expand in downtown Milwaukee.

The insurance giant wants to tear down its old east building located at Mason and Cass streets, and build the $300 million high-rise.

BizTimes' Steve Jagler said more office space means more jobs.

"They are a Fortune 500 company. They're diversified. They're growing, and it was never a question of whether or not they needed to expand their office space. It was a question of where they were going to do that expansion," Jagler said.

Jagler said the Milwaukee-based insurance company debated several options on where to expand, including building a new office tower at their Franklin campus. He said the decision not to head out to the suburbs means Northwestern Mutual is serious about their long-term future in the city's business district.

"The young workforce, the millennials, they tend to not want to work in an office park 25 miles away from the city that's isolated. They tend to like being where the action is, where other people their age area, so I think this is an investment in the company's future," Jagler said.

Mayor Tom Barrett joined Northwestern Mutual's chief executive officer and other business leaders at the announcement Thursday morning.

They said construction is expected to begin in late 2014 and is expected to be completed in 2017.

Officials said the new construction will preserve 1,100 jobs in the city while "creating capacity for as many as 1,700 new jobs."

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